November 3, 2024
General News

Medellin Foreign Direct Investment Grows: ACI

The Agencia de Cooperacion e Inversion de Medellin y el Area Metropolitana (ACI, Medellin’s investment promotion agency) announced September 3 during the “Medellin and its International Allies” conference that it has overseen US$26 million worth of cooperative investments in 126 programs under a 2012-2015 development plan.

Those investments principally have focused upon education, health, security, economic development and environmental sustainability, according to ACI.

The United States and Spain have been especially helpful in returning displaced families to their areas of origin in Antioquia, as well as in programs for helping victims of Colombia’s armed conflicts and preventing drug use, according to ACI.

Over the same 2012-2015 period, Medellin has received US$640 million in private foreign direct investment (FDI) for a variety of businesses, thanks to the arrival of 70 new foreign investors, according to ACI.

The “International Allies” conference – the fifth in a series – included embassy and consular representatives from Canadia, Peru, Sweden, Australia, Switzerland, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, the UK, Panama, Finland and Spain, as well as foundations and multilateral organizations including the United Nations and others, according to ACI.

The meeting represents another example of Medellin’s transformation, according to Mayor Anibal Gaviria.

“Fifteen years ago, what events were happening in Medellin?  What investors came? Today, we’re open to the world, to share our achievements and we also ask that you teach us,” Gaviria said in his presentation.
 
At the conference, a representative from Australia said that his country now aims to work with Medellin’s “Ruta N” high-tech innovation center on new projects. For its part, the UK will continue to support projects that will expand bilingualism in Medellin, according to ACI.

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